PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

May 19, 2008

Surfers ride wave in friend's memory

'Paddle Out' event stresses importance of organ donation

Emily Garber
News Journal correspondent

As the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico, 19 surfers braved the choppy waters Sunday and paddled through the waves beside the Gulf pier to join hands and recite the Lord's Prayer in memory of William McMahon.

William, 16, died May 19, 2005, while awaiting a liver transplant.

Before entering the water, participants and surfers involved in the fourth annual "Don't Break the Circle of Life" Memorial Paddle Out Event joined hands and recited different names of those who have died waiting for an organ transplant.

Julian Eubanks, 33, was among those attending the memorial. Eubanks experienced kidney failure at 25 and has been on a organ waiting list for eight years, he said.

"There needs to be more days like today, more public education," Eubanks said. "There are 10,000 people waiting for organ and/or tissue donations."

The first "Paddle Out" was arranged in 2005 shortly after William's death by his former Pensacola High School English teacher, John Murray. Murray surfed with him at 5 a.m. every day before school, William's mother, Kim McMahon, said.

People gathered to hear the stories of those who have had experiences with organ transplants. Bands performing at the Gulfside Pavilion at the "Paddle Out" provided musical interludes, often bringing members of the audience to their feet to dance to familiar tunes.

Terri Haerrington, one of the speakers, promoted organ donation by sharing the story of her late husband who donated his heart, pancreas, liver and one of his kidneys. She has met three individuals who received her husband's organs, all of whom are "doing great."

"One person helped four individuals," she said. "Organ donation is a powerful gift."

The William Rollings McMahon Foundation was formed in 2006 by Kim McMahon after William was diagnosed with unexplained liver failure and died waiting for a liver. Money raised at the event goes to increasing awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation.

Pensacola resident Revonda Stewart, who received a donated liver four years ago from a 27-year-old man, was diagnosed with autoimmune disease in February 2004. She received her transplant in July 2004.

"I'm very grateful to the person," Stewart said. "(The donated liver) allowed me to see one of my sons graduate and get married."

While McMahon did not get to see her son graduate from high school, she was encouraged by the turnout and said she plans to keep her son's memory alive through the annual event.

Blake Jones, a friend of McMahon's son who had played with him in a band, sang a song he wrote titled "Unread Letters to Will," which left McMahon in tears.

"I thought that people would forget and go on with their lives," McMahon said. "(The event) actually started getting bigger."

In the two years that followed William's death, McMahon said surfers and non-surfers alike would come to the "Paddle Out." McMahon since has traveled to different colleges, churches and schools to tell her son's story.

"Putting a face and a name on something makes it real," McMahon said. "I've heard that 90 percent of people who donate do so because of a story they heard."